The 90 degree myth

I don't know any scientific facts to support the benefits of pruning plants back to the new growth. It works well with some varieties and not so well with others. The Fourth Of July variety I mentioned earlier produces more suckers and side shoots than any variety I've ever seen so it is easy to cut back. Other varieties simply produce new growth from the root ball up or from large main stems near the bottom of the plant. If they produce new growth higher on the plant, I just cut back to where the new growth emerges. Some varieties like Taresenko 6 grow very fast after being pruned back so I may prune it back more than one time. I try to keep the plants height restrained until it starts blooming again. When it starts producing blooms, I let it grow as fast as it wants. For me, it has always been important to make sure new growth has emerged from a stem before it is pruned back. I sometimes stimulate the emergence of new growth by giving it a shot of fertilizer and plenty of water before I prune it.

Ted

Keith,

I grew tomatoes in Lake Charles for many years and never had good luck getting my spring plants to survive and produce in the fall. The combination of high heat and extremely high humidity were overwhelming. If they didn't die from the heat, the humidity induced diseases would kill them. I even tried most of the varieties developed for heat tolerance with little success. I always got a great spring crop because I could plant out in February, but I finally gave up on a fall crop of tomatoes.

Ted

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by kath

The extreme heat and humidity causes problems with the pollination of the plant but not for ripening fruits.

Actually, when temperatures got up to 120 this summer my fruit stopped ripening. Talked to some people in OK who experienced the same with 115 degree heat. Something to do with enzymes.
I had some fruit set recently when our temperatures fell to a "cool" 99 degrees with a very pleasant 73 degree low for two nights. Not a lot but several plants hve tiny fruits that weren't there before.
Now, if I can keep them alive with this wicked wilt until fall.....

[Keiththibodeaux]

Originally Posted by tedln

Keith,

I grew tomatoes in Lake Charles for many years and never had good luck getting my spring plants to survive and produce in the fall. The combination of high heat and extremely high humidity were overwhelming. If they didn't die from the heat, the humidity induced diseases would kill them. I even tried most of the varieties developed for heat tolerance with little success. I always got a great spring crop because I could plant out in February, but I finally gave up on a fall crop of tomatoes.

Ted

Ted, you were growing in my neighborhood. This is consistent with what I have been told. Bell Pepper and Eggplant are another issue, and I have seen and heard of them returning to productivity, but not tomatoes.

Keith

[kath]

Originally Posted by Tracydr

Actually, when temperatures got up to 120 this summer my fruit stopped ripening. Talked to some people in OK who experienced the same with 115 degree heat. Something to do with enzymes.

Wow- experienced 117 once when traveling out West, but 120 is some extreme heat.

Sorry about the misinformation- never heard of that before. The hotter it gets here, the faster they ripen. I learned something new today.

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by kath

Wow- experienced 117 once when traveling out West, but 120 is some extreme heat.

Sorry about the misinformation- never heard of that before. The hotter it gets here, the faster they ripen. I learned something new today.

Official temperature a couple of weeks ago was 121 with lows in the mid nineties. It was not fun. Hottest day since I've lived here.

[kath]

Originally Posted by Tracydr

...with lows in the mid nineties.

...are you kidding?! We have two days of 100 in the upcoming forecast- can't remember the last time that was predicted.

Keith,

For me, eggplants grow faster and produce better in the high heat. If the plants get short on water, the fruit will get soft; but recover when the plants get water. Bell peppers are a different story. The plants grow okay and set fruit in the heat, but the plants wilt in the strong sunlight and revive every night. The small fruit unfortunately wilt along with the plant and don't recover. They just wrinkle up and drop from the plant. I have to use shade cloths on Bell Pepper plants even in North Texas. My Pablano and Jalapenos don't suffer from the heat or sunlight.

Ted

[austinnhanasmom]

Great info - thanks ALL!

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by kath

...are you kidding?! We have two days of 100 in the upcoming forecast- can't remember the last time that was predicted.

Nope, for real. Worst I've seen, even in AZ.
Our summers cause even the eggplant and hot peppers to quit. They really pick up in Sept. I get just a few eggplants and hot peppers in the summer. Sometimes, I think even the okra has slowed down with the heat!
The armenian cucumber really stopped blooming when it got over 110 but it's starting to pick back up again.

[Tracydr]

Tedin, do you get sun scorching on your jalapeños? I have a terrible time on the jalapeño I'm growing right now. I'm not sure if it's the variety or what. I think I shaded the previous plant but haven't managed to get around to constructing a shade structure over this one.

Originally Posted by Tracydr

Tedin, do you get sun scorching on your jalapeños? I have a terrible time on the jalapeño I'm growing right now. I'm not sure if it's the variety or what. I think I shaded the previous plant but haven't managed to get around to constructing a shade structure over this one.

My Poblanos and jalapenos have such heavy foliage the sun can't touch the peppers. If the plants lost some leaves, I think they would get sun scald, but they haven't so far. I am growing a giant variety of Jalapeno this year. It's funny because they make large peppers on small (knee high) plants with heavy foliage. Last year, I grew normal sized jalapenos and they grew on plants about six feet tall.

I also grew the Armenian cucumber last year. They produced fruit around 24" to 30" long with the wrinkled skin in cool weather. When the hot weather hit, they started producing fruit shaped more like melons. One fruit weighed about twelve pounds and tasted similar to a musk melon. When the cool fall weather returned, they started producing the long, wrinkled fruit again.

Ted

Originally Posted by austinnhanasmom

Great info - thanks ALL!

My wife and I were in the high mountains of Colorado in late June riding our four wheeler. Its an excuse to escape the Texas heat for awhile. I was reading one of those local newspapers produced for tourists listing the restaurants and local places of interest around Ouray. One article was written by a local gardening guru and he was commenting on growing a garden at high elevations. His belief was any crop grown above 5000 ft. of elevation must be grown different than those grown below 5000 ft. due to the different ambient temperatures and the shorter season. The sunlight at high elevation is much more intense as well. If you are gardening around Denver, you need to do some research on high elevation gardening.

Ted